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The Lowdown: What Went on at the National Hurricane Conference 2013

The annual four-day National Hurricane Conference just ended the last week of March. Although not aimed entirely at insurance adjusters, it’s a popular destination for those in the profession who want to learn more about local, state, and national-level ideas as well as potential new policies surrounding hurricane damage and general emergency preparedness. In other words, it’s the be-all, end-all of disaster gatherings and a great place for adjusters to glean new knowledge.

Not only are insurance company representatives at all levels encouraged to attend the NHC, the diverse likes of policymakers, geographers, engineers, building and zoning officials, and even radio personalities are targeted as prime attendees as well. Such a varied group (this is the 13th annual) ensures a broad dialogue about how to better prepare for hurricanes, how to combat them when they descend on a certain area, and how to deal with the wreckage after they dissipate.

Recent session topics ranged from “The Challenges of a Rising Sea Level” to “Natural Disasters, Climate Change & Insurance: Implications Now & Future.” There was also special focus on the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, where the conference took place. It did, after all, face down Hurricane Katrina and the much publicized fallout from the storm over the ensuring weeks and months.. “The Effectiveness of the New Orleans Risk Reduction System in Hurricane Isaac” was the name of one such NOLA-centric session that educated conference-goers as to just how far New Orleans has come.

The National Hurricane Conference, headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, spreads awareness about different–often not as primarily thought about–issues and difficulties that arise in the face of a hurricane (think: mass communication, medical evacuation transportation, or nursing home protocols). In its 13-year run, it’s evolved to a go-to-place for discussion, dialogue, and learning about hurricanes in every facet–including insurance.

Prediction and preparation are not only the important themes of this event, but should also be in the forefront of planning for agents and adjusters. It’s inevitable that a storm is going to strike, so getting your process as streamlined as possible before the first of the storms makes landfall is key to customer service. Agents can leverage predictive analytics tools to ensure your policyholders’ contents insured to value ratio is in line with their policy. Enservio’s Contents iTV is an easy to use tool that can take the pain out of premium pricing–and make claim settlement even easier for the adjuster after disaster strikes. For my information, please visit us at ContentsiTV.